Censors cut out fight scenes in Lara Croft film

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Angelina Jolie: Fantasy made flesh

Lara Croft, the computer-generated fantasy figure and object of adolescent fantasy, has fallen foul of Britain's film censors, who deemed the violence of her celluloid adventures unsuitable for a young audience.

The film, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, due to be released in this country next week, has been cut after concerns by the British Board of Film Classification over the impact that its fight sequences and use of knives might have on younger cinema goers.

The board announced yesterday that the scenes needed to be edited to gain a 12 rating instead of a 15 for the movie, which stars Angelina Jolie. The board said that footage of head-butts and throat chops was unacceptable for the lower rating and the film's makers have now agreed to edit them out.

The board said Lara Croft was "the latest big Hollywood action film aimed at children but containing scenes which are too violent for younger viewers". In America, it was given a PG-13 certificate. Producers of other films to receive that rating, Mission: Impossible 2 and Charlie's Angels, opted for a 15 certificate when the films were released here rather than face cuts.

The board's director, Robin Duval, said yesterday: "The natural audience for Lara Croft is the 12 to 15 age group, but the board's classification guidelines make it clear that at 12, the glamorisation of weapons such as knives and the graphic illustration of dangerous techniques such as head-butts and throat chops are unacceptable.

"The film company has responded positively to the BBFC's concerns with cuts to those elements and to other violent content at several points in the film."

Mr Duval said the action-packed film would now not surprise audiences familiar with 12-rated films such as the Bond series.

"As with the Bond films, the combat, gunplay etc is mitigated by the absence of bloody or graphic detail and by the generally fantastical setting of the story," he said. "The board's concern about knives, however, reflects the fact that they are much more readily accessible in the UK than the other more unfamiliar equipment characteristic of these films."